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UNION AND PEACE! 

HOW THEY SHALL BE RESTORED. 
Si F> le: IHS O DEZ 

OF 

HON. CHA.IILES SUMNER, 

BEFORE THE REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION, AT WORCESTER, 

OCTOBER 1, 18G1. 



Therefore take heed 

How you awake our steeping sword of War. 
We charge you, in the name of God, take heed. 

— SHAKSPEARE, Henry V. 

To humor the present disposition and temporize is a certain, absolutely certain confirmation of the 
Evil. No nation ever did or ever can recover from Slavery by such methods. — Mr. Fox, Letter to Lord 
Holland, 18«/i June, 1804. 



[Upon the appearance of Mr. Sumner on the platform, he was most cordially 
{greeted by the whole Convention and the large audience in the galleries. Hon. 
H. L. Dawes, President of the Convention, introduced him in a few felicitous 
words, whereupon the warm applause of the vast assembly burst forth again with 
great enthusiasm, ending with three rousing cheers.] 

Fellow Citizens: — In meeting my fellow citizens of Massachusetts, who have 
come together on this occasion from all parts of the Commonwealth, I find myself 
in a familiar scene, but I feel that there has been a change. Yes ! there has been 
a great change, and it is manifest in our Convention. 

We are no longer met, as so often in times past, for purposes of controversy, or 
to sustain our cause by argument. That hour has passed. Formerly I have 
exposed to you the atrocities of the Fugitive Slave Bill ; I have rejoiced to show 
that Freedom was National and Slavery Sectional ; I have striven to prevent the 
extension of Slavery into the Territories ; I have vindicated especially Freedom in 
Kansas, assailed by slaveholding conspirators; I have exposed the tyrannical 
usurpations of the Slave Oligarchy, and I have dragged into light the whole vast 
intense Barbarism of Slavery. [Applause.] But these topics have now passed 
into history, and are no longer of practical interest. They are not of to-day. 

Let us rejoice that at least so much has been gained, and from the extent of our 
present triumphs take hope and courage for the future. Providence will be with 
the good cause in times to come, as in times past. Others may despair; I do not, 
Others may see gloom ; I cannot. Others may hesitate ; I will not. [Applause.] 
Already the country has been saved. Great as may seem to be its' present peril, 
its peril was greater far while it was sinking year after year under the rule of 



^s^ 




Slavery. Often have I exclaimed, in times past, that our first great object was 
the Emancipation of the National Government, so that it should no longer be the 
slave of Slavery, ready to do its bidding in all things. But this victory has been 
won. It was won first by the ballot-box, when Abraham Lincoln was elected 
President of the United States; [applause] — and it was won the second time by 
the cartridge-box, when, at the command of the President, the guns of Fort 
Sumter returned defiance to the rebel artillery. [Three cheers.] Such was the 
madness of Slavery that the first was not enough. Unhappily, the second was 
needed to complete the work. 

God be praised ! Much has been already done. The Slave Oligai'chy, which, 
according to the vaunt of a slaveholding Senator, has ruled the Republic for more 
than fifty years ; which has stamped its degrading character upon the national 
forehead ; which has entered into and possessed not only the politics, but the litera- 
ture and even the religion of the land ; which has embroiled us at home and given 
us a bad name abroad ; which has wielded at will President, Cabinet and even 
judicial tribunals ; which has superseded Public Opinion by substituting its own 
immoral behests ; which has appropriated to itself the offices and honors of the 
Republic ; which has established Slavery as the single test and shiboleth of favor ; 
which, after opening all our Territories to this wrong, was already promising to 
renew the slave trade and all its unutterable woes ; nay, more, which, in the 
instinct of that tyranny through which it ruled, was beating down all the safeguards 
of human rights — freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and security of person, 
and delivering the whole country to a sway whose vulgarity was second only to 
its madness; this domineering Slave Oligarchy has been dislodged from the 
National Government, never more to return. [Immense sensation.] Thus far, 
at least, has Emancipation prevailed. The greatest dave of all is free. 

Surely, if at any moment, we are disposed to be disheartened — if the Future is 
not always clear before us, we may find ample occasion for joy in the victory 
already won. Pillars, like those -of Hercules, might fitly mark this progress. 

Among the results of this victory, is one which we may especially enjoy on this 
occasion. It is Slavery which has been the origin of our party divisions, keeping 
men asunder who ought to act together. But with the expulsion of this disturbing 
influence, the apology for these divisions has ceased. All patriots, — ^all who truly 
love their country — may now act together; no matter in what party combination 
they may have formerly appeared ; no matter, of what accent is the speech by 
which their present duties are declared. Call them democrats. Union men, natives 
or foreigners, what you will, are we not all engaged in a common cause ? Nor 
will I claim as yet the highest praise for those with whom I am most intimately 
associated. I have read history too well, not to remember that faithful allies 
are sometimes superior to domestic veterans. Hannibal, in his campaigns, relied 
less on his own Carthaginians than on his Spanish Infantry and Numidian horse. — 

The Government is assailed by a Rebellion without precedent. Never before 
since Satan warred upon the' Almighty has Rebellion assumed such a front ; 
[applause] — and never before has it begun in such a cause. The rebels are 
numerous and powerful ; and their cause is Slavery. [Sensation.] 

It is the very essence of rebellion to be audacious, unhesitating, unscrupulous. 
Rebellion sticks at nothing; least of all, with a rebellion which began in Slavery. 

Coruell Uiuv, 
a Fob 06 



It can be successfully encountered only by a vij^or and enerfiy which shall surpass 
its own. Patriotism surely is not less potent as a motive than treason. It must 
be invoked. By all the memories of your fathers, who founded this Republic and 
delivered to you the precious heritage; and by all the sentiments of gratitude for 
the good you have enjoyed beneath its protecting care, you are summoned to its 
defence. Defence, did I say V It is with mortification that I utter the word ; but 
you all know the truth. 

The rebel conspirators have set upon us, and now besiege the National Govern- 
ment. They besiege it at Washington, where are the President and his Cabinet 
and the national archives. They besiege it at Fort INIonroe on the Atlantic, at 
St. Louis on the Mississippi, and now they besiege it in Kentucky. Everywhere 
we are on the defensive. [Sensation.] Strongholds have been wrested from us. 
Soldiers gathered under the folds of our national flag have been compelled to 
surrender. Citizens, whose only offence has been their loyalty, have been driven 
from their homes. Bridges have been burned. Railways have been disabled. 
Steamers and ships have been seized. The largest navy yard of the country has 
been appropriated. Coumierce has been hunted on the sea, and property, where- 
ever It can be reached, ruthlessly robbed or destroyed. Only within a few days 
•we have;read the order of one Buckner, a rebel commander In Kentucky, direct- 
ing the destruction of a most important lock, by which Green River had been 
rendered navigable. Pardon me if I ask your attention to this Intercepted order. 
It is instructive, as showing the spirit with which this rebellion is waged :— 

Bowling Gkeen, September, 18G1. 
Mr. George W. Triplett: 

My Dear Sir : Yours is received. Lock No. 1 must be destroyed. I rely upon our friends 
at Owcnboroush to do it. Not an hour must be lost. Its destruction is a great deal to me 
in crippling our adversary. Assemble our friends, without delay, in sufficient force to accom- 
plish the object. One of the best ways is to open all the gates but one, and to dig down 
behind the wall at both gates; to put one or two kegs of powder behind the wall, apply a 
slow match, and blow the wall into the lock. If possii)le, it should be done in such a way as 
to leave a strong current through the lock, which will empty the dam. Provide every thing 
iu advance. Do not fail. It is worth an eflbrt. 

(Signed) S. H. BUCKNER. 

It Is still doubtful if the work of destruction was accomplished according to 
this rebel order. But thus madly was It attempted to sweep away one of the most 
valuable of the internal improvements of Kentucky, a part of the pride and 
wealth of the State. 

Do you ask In whose name all this has been done. The answer is easy. Not 
«« In the name of God and the Continental Congress," as Ethan Allen summoned 
Ticonderoga; but "In the name of Slavery." Yes; In the name of Sla\'Bry, 
and nothing else, has all this crime, destruction and ravage been perpetrated ; 
and the work is still proceeding. 

Look at the war as you will, and you will always see Slavery. Never were 
the words of the Roman orator more applicable: Nullum /acinus extldt nisi per 
te ; nullum Jlacjitum sine te. " No guilt unless through thee, no crime without 
thee." Slavery Is Its inspiration ; Its motive power ; its end and aim ; its be-all 
and end-all. 

It is often said that the war will make an end of Slavery. This Is probable. 
But It Is surer still, that the overthrow of Slavery will at once make an end of the 
war. [Tumultuous applause and cheers.] 



K I am correct in this statement, which I believe is beyond question, then do 
reason, justice and policy all unite in declaring that the war must be brought to 
bear directly on the grand conspirator, and omnipresent enemy. [Here the 
vociferous cheers of the Convention interrupted the speaker.] Not to do this, is 
to take upon ourselves, in thejpresent contest, all the weakness of Slavery, while 
we leave to the rebels its boasted resources of military strength. [Cheers.] Not 
to do this, is to squander life and treasure in a vain masquerade of battle, which 
can have no practical result. Not to do this, is blindly to neglect the plainest 
dictates of economy, humanity and common sense ; and alas ! simply to let slip 
the dogs of war on a mad chase over the land, never to stop until spent with 
fatigue, or sated with slaughter. [Sensation.] 

Believe me, fellow citizens, I know all the imagined difficulties and unques- 
tioned responsibilities of this suggestion. But if you are in earnest, the difficul- 
ties will at once disappear, and the responsibilities are such as you will gladly 
bear. This is not the first time that a knot hard to untie has been cut by the 
sword; [cheeers] and we all know that danger flees before the brave man. 
Believe that you can, and you can. The will only is needed. Courage now is 
the highest prudence. [Applause.] 

It is not necessary even, according to a familiar phrase, to carry the war into 
Africa. It will be enough if we carry Africa into the war — [here the outburst of 
applause compelled the speaker to suspend his remarks ;] in any form, any quan- 
tity, any way. [Continued applause.] The moment this is done, rebellion will 
begin its bad luck, and the Union will be secure forever. [Cheers.] 

History teaches by examples. The occasion (ftes not allow me to show how 
completely this monitor points the way. I content myself with two instances of 
special mark — one from ancient Greece and the other from ancient Rome. 

The most fatal day for ancient Greece was that " dishonest victory " at Chero- 
DEea, when Philip of Macedon triumphed over combined forces, in which Demos- 
thenes was enlisted as a soldier. The panic was universal. Athens was thrown 
into consternation. Her great orator had fought bravely, but ineffectually. 
Another orator, called by Milton " the old man eloquent," died suddenly on 
hearing the report of the defeat. The book of Fate seemed about to close, while 
the proud Athenian State sank to be a Macedonian province. Then it was that 
a patriot orator, Hypereides, launched a ^proposition to emancipate the slaves. 
The effect was electric. The royal Philip, already strong in his victory, trembled. 
King and conqueror, he was also statesman, and he saw well that such a propo- 
sition, begun in Athens, would shake all Greece, even to his powerful throne, 
which the young Alexander was then preparing to mount. His triumphant course 
was at once arrested, and peace secured. 

The other instance is in Roman history. You will find it in Plutarch's Life of 
Caius Marius. This experienced general, — and his great experience gives to his 
example the highest authority^ — who in the civil conflicts of the time had been 
driven from Rome, and found shelter in the ruins of Carthage, was able at last 
to effect a landing in Italy. Thus is the incident recorded : — 

" Marius upon this news determined to hasten. He took with him some Marusian horse 
which he had levied in Africa, and a few others that were come to him from Italy, in all not 
amounting to above a thousand men, and with this handful began his voyage. He arrived 
at a port of Etruria called Telamon, and as soon as he was lawled proclaimed Liberty to the 



slaves; [immense applause,] and, joining to them the stoutest husbandmen and shepherds, 
freemen, who had flocked to the shore, he gathered in a few days a great force, witli which he 
filled forty ships." 

Thus far Plutarch. It is needless to add that Marius found himself soon 
master of Rome. [Applause.] 

These are historic instances. I do not adduce them that you should blindly 
follow them ; but simply that you should see how, in times past, defeat has been 
stayed and victory won, by a generous word for Freedom. Men die and disap- 
pear, but the Human Family continues the same, in passions and fears, as when 
Philip was frightened back from Athens and when Marius was borne in triumph 
to Rome. [Applause.] 

To these historic instances, let me add the authority of the ancient Roman 
law, and I refer you for it to the common Dictionary of Antiquities, now 
used in all our schools. According to that law, the state of Slavery might be 
terminated in at least three different manners : first, by manumission ; secondly, 
by enactments of reward to the slave: and thirdly, by enactments of punishment 
to the master. [Great sensation.] If the master had failed to be a good citizen, 
he might be punished — so that at the same time he sliould suffer in property and 
others should gain what is more than property — freedom. But I do not cite 
even this example of a time-honored jurisprudence for your absolute guidance. 
I will not doubt that, in the unparalleled circumstances by which we are now 
encompassed, justice will be done. 

Already the way is easy. A simple declaration — that all men coming within 
the lines of the United States troops shall be regarded as fi-eemen — will be in 
strict conformity to the Constitution, and also with precedents. The Constitution 
knows no man as a slave. It treats all within its jurisdiction as persons, while 
the exceptional provision for the rendition of persons held to service or labor, 
you will observe, is carefully confined to such as have escaped into another State, 
so that in Virginia, it does not require the surrender of a Virginia slave ; nor in 
Missouri of a Missouri slave. It is clear, therefore, that there can be no sanction 
under the Constitution, for turning a National camp into a slave-pen, or for 
turning military ofHcers into slave-hunters. Let this plain construction be 
adopted, and then, as our lines advance, Freedom will everywhere be established 
and our National flag in its march will wave with new glory. [Applause.] 

A brave General, whom Massachusetts has given to the country — though com- 
mencing his career with prejudices derived from the pro-slavery school of poli- 
ticians — has known how to see this question in its true light. I mean, of course, 
General Butler. [Immense cheering interrupting the speaker for some time.] 
He has declared in his letter to the Secretary of War, dated Fortress Monroe, 
30th July, 1861, with reference to fugitive slaves, that it is his duty " to take the 
same care of these men, women and children, houseless, homeless and unprovided 
for, as he would of the same number of men, women and children, who, for their 
attachment to the Union, had been driven or allowed to flee from the Confederate 
States." These words are better for his reputation than a victory. [Applause 
and cheers.] 

Another General, born in Kentucky and living and dying in the South — 
Major-General Gaines of the army of the United States — laid down the same 



V 



rule as long ago as 1838. It will be found in the documents of Congress. " The 
military officer," said he, " can enter into no judicial examination of the claim of 
one man to the bone and muscle of another as property. Nor could he, as a 
military officer, know what the laws of Florida were Avhile engaged in maintain- 
ing the Federal Government by force of arms. In such case, he could only be 
guided by the laws of war ; and whatever may be the laws of any State, they 
must yield to the safety of the Federal Government.'' 

This proposition, though of seeming simplicity, would be of incalculable efficacy 
if honestly and sincerely enforced. Then would our camps become nurseries of 
freemen, and every common soldier would be a chain breaker. 

But there is another agency, that may be invoked, which is at the same time 
under the Constitution and above the Constitution : I mean Martial Law. It is 
under the Constitution, because the War Power to which it belongs is positively 
recognized by the Constitution. It is above the Constitution, because, when 
set in motion, like necessity, it knows no other law. For the time it is law and 
Constitution. The civil power, in mass and in detail, is superseded, and all rights 
are held subordinate to this military magistracy. All other agencies, small and 
great, executive, legislative and even judicial, are absorbed in this transcendent 
triune power, which, for the time, declares its absolute will, while it holds alike 
the scales of justice and the sword of the executioner. The existence of this 
power nobody questions. If it has been rarely exercised in our country, and 
never in an extended manner, the power none the less has a fixed place in our 
political system. As well strike out the kindred law of self-defence, which 
belongs alike to States and individuals. Martial law is only one form of self- 
defence. 

That this law might be employed against Slavery was first proclaimed in the 
House of Representatives by a Massachusetts statesman, who was a champion of 
freedom, John Quincy Adams. [Applause.] His authority is such that I con- 
tent myself with placing the law under the sanction of his name, which becomes 
more authoritative when we consider the circumstances under wliich he first put 
it forth, then repeated and then again vindicated it. 

It was as early as the 25th of May, 18.36, that Mr. Adams first expounded 
what he called " The war power and treaty-making power of the Constitution." 
Then it was that he declared : 

" From the instant that your slaveholdiug States become the theatre of war, civil, ser- 
vile or foreign, from that instant the war powers of Congress extend to interference with 
the institution of slavery in every way in which it can be interfered with, from a claim of 
indemnity for slaves taken or destroyed, to the cession of the State burdened with slavery to 
a foreign power." 

Again, on the 7th of June, 1841, after many years of reflection, and added 
experience in public life, he terrified slavemasters by showing that Universal 
Emancipation might be accomplished through this extraordinary power. 

Afterward, on the 14th of April, 1842, for the third time he stated the doctrine 
in the House of Representatives, and challenged criticism or reply. I forbear to 
read the whole speech, though it is worthy of constant repetition. An extract 
will suffice : 



'' " I lay this down as the law of nations. I say that the military authority takes, for the. 
time, the place of all municipal institutions, slavery amon^j the rest. Under that state of 
things, so far from its heing true that the States where slavery exists have the exclusive 
management of the subject, not otib/ the President of the United States, but the commander of 
the armij, has power to order the universal emancipation of the slaves." [Applause.] 

And then again he announces in words further applicable to the present hour ; 

"Nor is this a mere theoretic statement. Slavery was abolished in Colombia, first, by the 
Spanish General, Murillo, and secondly, by the American General 13olivar. It was abolished 
by virtue of a military command given at the head of the army, and its abolition continues to 
be law to this day." 

The representatives of slavery fumed and raged at these words and at their 
■venerable author ; but nobody answered them. And they have stood ever since 
in the records of Congress, firm and impregnable as adamant. 

In the protracted controversy which is now drawing to its close, Massachusetts 
has done nuich. She first gave the example of Universal Freedom within her 
borders ; and ever since that early day she has taken a leading part in all efforts 
against Slavery. It is her children who have never failed in this cause, where 
any thing was to be done, whether by word or deed. Massachusetts has for years 
borne the burden of this discussion, and also the heavier burden of obloquy, which 
has long rested upon all who pleaded for the slave. It is Massachusetts, who, 
with patriotic ardor, first leaped to the rescue, when the Capital was menaced by 
Slavery [applause] and by a happy coincidence on the 19th of April of this year, 
consecrated herself anew by the blood of her children; [applause] thus being at 
the same time first to do and first to suffer. [Immense applause.] It was also a 
Massachusetts General who first in this conflict proclaimed that our camps could 
not contain a slave ; [vociferous applause] and it was an illustrious Massachusetts 
statesman who first unfolded the beneficent principle by virtue of which, constitu- 
tionally, legally, and without excess of any kind, the President or a Commanding 
General may become more than a conqueror, even a Liberator. [Applause and 
great sensation.] 

Massachusetts will be false to herself, if she fails at this moment. [Sensation.] 
And yet, I would not be misunderstood. Feeling most profoundly that there is 
now an opportunity, such as rarely occurs in human annals, for incalculable 
good ; seeing clearly that there is one spot, like the heel of Achilles, where this 
great Rebellion may be wounded to death — I calmly deliver the whole question to 
the judgment of those on whom the responsibility rests, contenting m}self with 
reminding you that there are times when not to act carries with it a greater 
responsibility than to act. It is enough for us to review the unquestioned 
powers of the government, to handle for a moment its mighty weapons, which are 
yet allowed to slumber, — without assuming to declare that the hour has come 
■when they shall flash against the sky. 

But may a good Providence save our government from that everlasting regret 
■which must ensue if a great opportunity is lost by which all the bleeding wounds 
of war shall be staunched — by -^vhich prosperity shall be again established, and 
Peace be made immortal in the embrace of Liberty. [Applause.] Saul was 
cursed for not hewing Agag in pieces when in his hands, and Ahab was cursed 
for not destroying Benhadad. Let no such curses ever descend upon us. 



8 

" So many slaves, so many enemies !" Unless this ancient proverb has ceased 
to be true, there are now four millions of enemies intermingled with the rebels, 
toiling in their fields, digging in their camps, and sitting at their firesides, con- 
stituting four millions of allies to the National government. Careful calculations 
demonstrate that out of this number, there are upwards of one million of an age 
for military service ; that in Virginia alone, there are 121,564 male slaves of an 
age for military service ; in Missouri, 21,334, and in Kentucky, 51,990. Can we 
afford to reject this natural alliance, inspired by a common interest, and conse- 
crated by humanity ? There is another motive to such an alliance which cannot 
be forgotten. Without it insurrection will be inevitable, and when it comes it 
will be wild and lawless. This should be prevented, if possible. But if Liberty 
does not descend from the tranquil heights of power, it will rise in blood, amidst 
the confusion of families. And what a difference between the two apparitions ! 
The one has the face of an angel radiant with celestial life ; the other has the 
front of a demon, " shaking from its horrid hair pestilence and war." [Great 
applause and cheering.] All this was clearly seen by the Emperor of Russia, 
when on the 21st of September, 1858, he called upon his people to unite with 
him in Emancipation, " which," he nobly declared, " ought to begin from above 
to the end that it may not come from below" and now this very year twenty 
millions of Russian serfs have peacefully passed out of the house of bondage. 
Cheered by this great example, let us not forget that it began from above. 

There is another practical advantage where the action proceeds from the 
government. The interests of loyal citizens can be protected. Compensation 
may relieve the hardships of individual cases, or of meritorious classes ; nor can 
I object. Never should any question of money be allowed to interfere with 
human freedom. Better an empty treasury than a single slave. A Bridge of 
Gold would be cheap, if demanded by the retreating fiend. 

Fellow citizens : I have spoken frankly ; for such has always been my habit. 
And never was there greater need of frankness. Let patriots understand each 
other and they cannot widely differ. All will unite in whatever is required by 
the sovereign exigencies of self-defence. All will unite in sustaining the govern- 
ment, and in driving back the rebels. But this cannot be done by any half-way 
measures, or by any lukewarm conduct. Do not hearken to the voice of Slavery, 
no matter what its tones of persuasion. It is the gigantic Traitor — not for a 
moment to be trusted. Believe me, its friendship is more deadly than its enmity. 
[Sensation.] If you are wise, prudent, economical, conservative, practical, you 
will strike quick and hard — strike too where the blow will be most felt — strike at 
the main-spring of the rebellion. Strike in the name of the Union, which only 
in this way can be restored — in the name of Peace, which is vain without Union, 
and in the name of Liberty also, sure to bring both Peace and Union in her 
glorious traiu. 

[As Mr. Sumner closed, the hearty approval of the sentiments of the speech, 
found utterance in the most enthusiastic and long-continued demonstrations of 
applause.] 

• Wright & Potter, Printers, 4 Spring Lane, Boston. 



SPEECH 

OF .^ 

MR. HENRY M. FULLEJl 

OF PENNSYLVANIA, '^^<\ 

DELIVERED IN THK HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
UNITED STATES, MAY 10, 1«56. 

Mr. Speaker: 

I desire to submit some remarks, partly of a perdonal ami partly of a general character. 
Sincerely do I rrgret the necessity which compels me to occupy the public time for any purpose 
of individual defence, but circumstances have occurred, deciaraitions have bi ei> made here and else- 
where, Consjressi'jiial letttrs have been written and widely circulated, now producing false im- 
pressions, which justice to myself and a proper regard for my constituents, as well as those 
with whom 1 am here associated, will not permit me to pass longer in aiJence. 1 should have 
solicited an earlier hearing, had not private business of an important characier, together with 
sickness in my family circle, summoned me home, and detained me away most of the time since 
the organization of the House. 

On the first Monday oi December last, I came here to discharge the duties of an American 
representative. 1 came here disapproving the territorial legislation of the thirty-third Congress; 
but, in view of existing and prospective difficulties, had determined to let it aione. My disposition 
was for peace. 1 desired to forgive and forget past offences — to lieal, not to inflame, wounds which 
had been inflicted — to compromise sectional differences, and to plant myself v/ith my party upon a 
broad, national platform, embracing all sections of the Union, and conservative of the rights and 
the interests of the whole country. Little supposed I, then, that we were entering upon'a drama 
in the performance of which I should unwillingly become a prominent actor. The partiality of 
friends asRigned me a position to which I felt 1 could lay no claim. The people, in consequence 
of past legislation, and in expectation of our probable action, were in a state of high excite- 
ment. Delay in the organization led to declarations of opinion, and avowals of intended action. 
I was unwilling to become a parly in making up a case for the North, or in making up a case 
for the South ; but determined, so far as lay in my power, to put an end to an unprofitable con- 
U'oversy — to make sacrifices, if need be, to restore harmony and secure the public peace. In 
advance of my coming hf re, I had so declared to my friends at home.* 

During the course of debate here, I felt myself called upon to embody these sentiments in a 
public avowal to the Hou.se, declaring that I should leave this whole question of slavery where 
the Constitution had left it — with the people of the States where it was tolerated, to regulate 
and determine for themselves. That for evil or for good, it was their concern, not mine; and 
whatever individual sentimc ts I or my people might entertain, upon the abstract question of 
morals, or of private rights, it was our plain duty to leave the .subject, with all its accountability, 
and every remedy it might require, to the wisdom and the conscience of those upon whom 
Providence, and 'he Constitution, had cast its responsibility. 

These were no*, recently fjrmed opinions-! My own limited experience, and the history of 
the country, had satisfied n e that the agitation of this question, in Congress and out of it, had 
produced, at;d was producing, nothing but evil and mischief, heart-burnings and bitterness ; that 
it had been, and must be, utterly barren of public good, injurious to both sections, and, if con^ 
tinued, would be destructive of th*! best interests of both races. I believed, further, that if this 
agitation should cease, the generous influences of our free institutions, in carrying our people 
onward in their career of high and rapid advancement, would lift up the slave, improve his 
condition, relax his bonds, and ultimately send him back, prepared to reclaim and redeem the 
land of his heathen fathers. 

The efforts of modern ohilanthropy, however well intended, have ia effect rrpreseed and 
defeated tne laoors of th- e who, by tneir position, ana its toleration, could aloae make for it 
effectual provision. Twenty-five years ago, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucl- y, had under 
serious consideration the adoption of measures looking to gradual emanciiiatio \. The influ- 

♦See appendix (1.) t Ibid. (2.) 



t'SKX.; it'i hr.iiMim wt re q.iitily, hM ftul ofTeiiisiTPiy, pre&sin* upon shivery. The policy of eman- 
«fi»tion WIS frerly disrufscd by the ptopleof the ijouihern Stales, in Ugislative ussemblies and 
constitutionji! conveniions.* Unfortutiatfly, at this very pf rioiijaiiorg.iiiizaiion for the purpose 
♦f «ystemaiio agitati it, utider the leadersliip of Georjie Thomp--*"!! ar.d other foreign emissa- 
ries, ;:prun<r i;ito exi;<tpiice Immedinttly there was a recoil nf the pObJic mind, resulting in aa 
united neniiment iff, the South, and a divided opinion at the North. 

Eiuancipation was thus popipohed — ilie entire system cf- prospective legi.'-lation turned back- 
Tiiere have followed charges of aggression, with eliminations and recriwiiuations, euch section 
strikinj^ at ot.d woundin<i the other, until liie scars ef prtjudice have Le-ome so deeply enj^raven 
on the popular tniad, that it will require yeard, many years. .to eft^ce them. This condition of 
things i desire to have corrected. 1 he North and the South ^hou!d no longer be taught to rejjard 
earh other as cnenaies, and that it is iiecest'ary to employ their energies to resist anticipated 
ii^rgresaions. 

i would ba^ preferred that the legislation of the 33d Congress had not been enacted, and 
siiat the people ofail sections should have abided by the Comproml^e of 1820, as a measure of 
repose, because, under the Compromises of IboO, pf ace. quiet, and social harmony had been 
tt.'iciaiiy re.stoied. It might have averted the unhap.py diffi<uliies existins: in Kansas — *-ouUi 
!:ave saved the country tlip long scene of (iisor£;anizaiion through which we have recently 
pBSScd. I would have let, the Compromise of I82(J alone; and did not favor the repeal, because 
I believed its effect, upon the public mind of the country, would produce injury and mischief 
grcaticr than any good it could possibly attain. ' 

Now (hat the repealin;^ act has been pussed, we have, as practical legislators, to meet the 
cxio;in<j facte, and .i ditl-.-.'-cnt state of caae. We are not called upon to abide t>y past legisla- 
tion, but we are aslu'd to legislate anew for the cstabliyhment of the restrictive clause, under the 
plea of a restoration to the status quo before the Kansas bill whs passed. That restoration is 
now impo.-^Bib'e. To attempt it ciin unly produce irritation, Beciioiiul alienation, aiul a dia- 
iurbance of she jv.ibiifi peace of the country. 

. Practically , s) fs.T ;\a the extension of slavery is concerned, the South has gained nothing; the 
•North has tost nothing by i'.s repeal. It ie conceded, I believe, by intelligent men of aU sections 
familiar witli the country, that neither the soil, or the climate, or the natural produciions of the 
Territories thus thrown open, can offer any permanent inducement for sla«ery to enter there. 
The cotton planter, the sugar grower, and the rice producer, will not feci it hia interest to leave 
iiis own warmer liiiitude, where, in the millions of acres of unoccupied territory, he has ample 
room for present gr well as prospective expansion. The law of inIer^st — the irrepealable law of 
jmlure— niu,9t opcnU: there as everywhere. True, there is nov/ a heated and angry controversy 
•jn the Territory of Kiinsas. The men of the border, in natural antagonism with aid societies else- 
where, have been stimulated to aftsociated fffort for the purpose of its establishment. Men 
taay engage it>, but will not continue, a struggle of unproductive l.ibor. If this be true of Kan- 
sas, it cannot be ksji wo of Nebraska. But whether slavt-ry will go into Kansas or not — 
whether it uill gointo Ncbriiska or not — is aqucstion I shall leave with the citizens who reside 
in those Territories to determine for themselves, when they come to form their State constitution 
and apply for admission into the Union. 

•. Entertaining these views, on the 19th of Dec'eraber las^t 1 declared, in the House, that I 
would vote for the admission of Kansas v/ith or without slavery. One of my colleagues (Mr. 
Todd) became suddenly and powerfully, and most unaccountably excited, and, in warm and 
fvaesionatu address, declared, with habitual cmphasi?, had he known such to have been my 
sentiments, his right arm should have withered before he would have given ane his support. 

I was naturally prompted to respond at the time, but felt restraii'ed by the position I then 
occupied, as well as the expressed wishes of members of the delegiuion from my State. Nor 
should 1 allude to it now, but for the fact that I have been charged by gome of the pub'ic 
journals in the gentlemnn's district, sustaining his course in the election of Speaker, with 
having led him to believe that 1 was a gotmd anti-Nebraska man, aocording to the standard by 
which he judged a man's soundness ; and tliaft my remarks here firet disclosed to him the real 
views I entertained on the .';ubject. 

The char-es thus made against me. implying concealment of my yiewa, and wilful deceit on 
any part, have not, I presunne, escaped his attention. 

[ am unv/illitig to believe that these accusations have b^en made at his instance, or by his 
authority; and etiil less can I suppi>se, that he would be willing to shrink from the responsibility 
of his support of rtie, fy having himself justified to liis cnnstituenis, by newspaper representa- 
tions which are unfiuaded in fact, and which he knows very well to be so. Such a construe- 
»ion lias, however, been given to the declaraticn made by the gentleman, by the press of his 
district. That declisration has been made the basis of a charge of deception against me; and he 
having thus in silence allowed himself to be vindicated, a simple iifrr.uion o.f facts will, I appre- 
hend, seithie matter right so far as I am concerned. They sire as follows : 

On Wedneeday evening of the first week of the session, ap my colleague will well remember, 
at a meetirvr of (he deleiiatinn from our Stale, at which he wns present, I declared ir> answer to 
specific inierrogatnrifs, that if Kansas should ppply for admission ms a State into the Union, 
with a population .^Hflicieni to entitle her to a Repn scmat ve in ('onuiress, and ker peojUe, by a 

♦ Appendii (7.) 



cU'ttr adti u»)ini.Hicik<<il»le iiuijuriiy, shculii tlv-""idc ii» tuvor of a .slave corisliUition, I di'i no ae« 
how i could votp aeainsl 111 r ?ni mission. 'I here could have been no niisipprfhensjon, thrr^ 
fore, in regard iomv vipws iinionjs; my coHeagur s. One ot thtm (Mr. lluRiNbOK) very (VaJikly 
stattd, ai that trifeiinjj. ihut he could HUi>pon me no lon|;er, jirid he ciccoroini;!)', ihe followng 
vjay, vo'.ed fur ih-3 (;in;li'maii who tiliH ihe chair ; bui tiiy colleague from -he Curiiberland dis- 
irict (Mr. Todd) cunimutd to vole for medurmrf the next thirifen ballots, aiid then ct'mmenced 
with a niajnriiy of our deU i^miini to vote for the prcKmi Speaker, and had so voini for at least 
a week before 1 liddrpsned ilic I iouse and wn.s followed by his exiraordmary dpi:lara>ion. I had 
no previous iicqurtiniunce Willi my colleague. 1 met him here for the first time, and he will do 
me the jusiire lo say, ihal in no interview of ours had I announced any sti!iinie..l or opinion 
diirercol trom that Ht the meeting suited. 

I had said no more in the Houae thtm I lied paid to him out of it, and alter wliich he con- 
tinued his support of me; yet he arose in his place, and made that most remarkable speech, 
preferring mutilation and physical dismemberment to the dread aitcrnaiive of having voted 
for me. 

i had hoped, ihut witli the close of the contest the necessity for further explanation had 
■teased al-o. But pentUnien, from some real or supposed necessity of their own, have felt 
f.hemselves cailt d upon to inquire into rny pnst history. A convenient instrumpnl zd home was 
found ready and wiHin?, a.s a volunteer, to ntreteh a dr.i2;-net over my Sttite aid district, to ascer- 
tain if, It) the uiiBuspec.tjiit: Initikne.ss of private corrc.spondi'nce, or in the confidence of per- 
sonal frieixlship, I had run written or said something which might be cniployec' to my preju- 
dice. His " piiiient search and vigil lorg " was rewarded by the discovery of an ancient 
manuscript, now wiilely known tis the Saxton letter. 1 find myself charged here, by the public 
press and m viiri 'Us letiprs addif ssed by Congressioni'l gentlt men to their consiituents, with 
having written a Witer, on the I8ih day of August, 1849, lo one B. F. S;ixton, soliciting the 
Free-soil nominaticn for CannI Commissioner of Pennsylvaniu, declaring niyfelf to be "a 
Wilmot proviso man up to the hub, and utterly opposed to the extension t.f slavery.'* 

This letter i pronounce here publicly — as I hpve done else^vhi re priviitely — a forgery. I 
do not know, and never knew, any man by the name of B. F. Saxton. 1 did know a Mr. F. 
Saxton, a luwycf m tny district, to whom I did write a private letter, in reply to one received 
from him. 'I his letter, acconlinir to Mr. Saxton's own etatement, which 1 htive here, was 
stolen from his poi^session, fr.nudulently altered, and then published. So far r'rcm soliciting: a 
Free-soil nomination, as I am rharged with havit'g done, the particular object of my letter 
■*'aR, to induce Mr Saxion to exert himself to prevent any nomination whatever; and the lan- 
guase ascribed to me, of being n Wilmot provi^^o man up to the hub, nowhere ofipeared in the 
Tetter. This letter, thus surreptitiously obtained, and by some person to me unknov/n, was 
reconstructed by puiting together half sentenres, and th.e manufacture of who'c oi.es; and, thus 
reproduced, was palmed upon the puli'ic. The fraud was exposed at the time, and it sunk of 
itself into seven years' oblivion : for all this happened seven years ago, and, io my knowledge, 
has not been alluded to smcc, until a month or two ago, a bitter and unscrupulous enemy at 
home re-issued it as genuine. 

! have here Mr. 8axton\s letter, written at the time of its original publication, stating the thefV, 
and pronouncing the published let'er to be a forgery.* 1 have '.he letter of a gentleman who 
:<aw my Utter before it was mailed, f and 1 have a letter from a gentleman who saw it alter it wafl 
received J But, to complete the proof, and now to clinch this falsehood and quiet it forever, I 
have, most fortun; tely, in my own handwriting, a copy of my letter to Mr Saxton.J These 
letters the hour allow d will not peemit me to read, but they shall go forth with the publica- 
tion of my nm<rks. 

I, of course, exonerate honorable gentlemen here who have made use of this letter, from all 
knowledge of its true character. I have been informed that the original letter, in my band- 
writing, and over my signature, is now here for exhibition, in case of my denial of the authen- 
dcity of the pul)lished letter. That letter, having been surreptitiously obti|ined frora Mr. Saston, 
cS, doubiles.sly, m the possession of some fierson who could, and' would be willing to produce 
it, if it will susiHin the allegation made. I here, and now, challenge its p'-oduction. Let it be 
iorouijht forth, and it will prove the one published to be a forgery. I her-, and now, deny ita 
iuihorsbip, denounce ii as a forgery, and defy its producti n. 

I come now to the next charge in the bill of indictment against me, which is, that on the 29th 
day of Se|itenaber, 1849, I made a speech in Allegheny city, in which I declared that it was 
the duty of Northern men '• to insist on the earliest practical abolition of slavery." I deny the 
ijtterance of any such sentiment. The facts are these : I was then a candid? te for Canal Com- 
misaioner, and did address a meeting in that city at the time stated. I ri member it well. It 
was at night in the market-house. There was a large crowd and mucd shouting. Some 
'^vera of mi«chi^f sprung a sudden cry of " fire," \vhich disturbed and rt-ine near breaking 
up the meeting Tiie good people, with that instinctive sense of nreeervntion of s' If and property- 
natural to us sll, bej/an to sepanit^' ; the alarm, however, provrd to be a false one, order was 
restored, and I pr-Kifi^ded to the end of my speech. There were no report* rs piPFicnt, nor any 
accommo'iaiioii for them, so far us I saw. The following day, I remember to have teen what 
purported to have b-en a report of my speech, but in language and sentiment so much stronger 

• A|.|>embY (H.) Ibid. (4.) , t il'*'!- (&•) lllltxi. ((I.) 



4 

than any I had ultered, that 1 really did not recognise it as my own production ; and remarked,, 
as I well remember, this fact to the publisher of one of the journals in which the report ap- 
peared, fie informed me that it had been written out from memory, and not from notes taken 
at the meeting. If I know myself, I have never entertained or expressed any sentiment in fa- 
vor of Northern interference, to secure the abolition of slavery, and feel quite certain that I 
could not have uttered the sentiment attributed to me. 

So far from uttering sentiments hostile to the South, and endeavoring to excite an unfavor- 
able sentiment to it in the North, I have always advocated the cultivation of good feeUngs and 
kindly relations between the two sections of the Union. That I did so, at this particular time, 
I have the strongest assurance; for on examination of my notes, prepaied for my addresses in 
Allegheny city and Pittsburg, I find myself to have held the following language: " [ believe, 
among our brethren of the South, there is as high a sense of honor, as noble a spirit of pa- 
triotism, as much of self-sacrificing devotion to country, as is to be found anywhere. I cherish 
■with pride the recollections of our early history. I believe in a strict adherence to all the com- 
promises of the Constitution. The Constitution recognises slavery, and guaranties its exist- 
ence. That Constitution was itself a compromise, made at a time when an inUependent exist- 
ence could not have been secured without it. I say, then, if the people of the South are still 
disposed to chensh this institution, let them. It is their right to do so." 

These v/ere my views of constitutional duty then, as they now are. That I expressed my- 
self adverse to slavery I shall not deny. I may have expressed myself stiongly on that subject, 
but not in lannuage of reproach towards the South. I may have said, and would say now, 
■with Henry Clay, "the Searcher of all hearts knows that every pulsation of my mind beats 
high and strong in the cause of civil liberty. Wherever it is safe and practicable, I desire to 
see every portion of the human family in the enjoyment of it. But I prefer the liberty of my 
own country to that of any other people, and the liberty of my own race to that of any other." 
True it is, I am a Pennsylvanian — ready, I trust, to do battle in her behalf I am a Northern 
man, sharing the opinions and sentiments ot" my people, and ready to contend for my section ; 
but in relation to my fellow-citizens in other parts of the country, I will treat their leelings with 
respect, and make no war upon their constitutional or legal rights. In times past, and in the 
ardor of controversy, I may, without reflection, have expressed myself in a manner which my 
cooler judgment tvould condemn. I had then no expectation that anti-slavery agitation would 
erect itself into a formidable element for political power. Nothing could have been farther 
from my thoughts, than that which since has taken place, and is nov/ being realized — that efforts 
should so far succeed in creating a belief that ihere is such a real diflVrence of local interests 
and views, as to organize any considerable party on a geographical basis. Errors of opinion [ 
have doubtlesyly entertained and expressed upon many subjects. Who has not' 1 have no 
such pride of consistency, no such obstinacy of opinion, as would induce me to cling to mistaken 
views, and refuse to embiacethe truth when persuaded ihat I had been in the wrung. Standing 
amidst the mist of former errors, we may well exclaim with Ajax, when battling in the cloud — 

" Dispel tliis cloud — the light of heaven restore ; 
Give me to see, and Ajax asks no more !" 

But, I am charged with having an " oblivious" memory, in stating that " I was not a mem- 
ber of the Congress of 1850," and had never been called on to either affirm or deny the consti- 
tutionality of the Wilmot proviso;" that "my political existence commenced since that flood," 
and that " having never taken any public position," I was " willing, in all frankness and can- 
dor, to do so now." It is alleged that 1 had taken such a position in the political canvass of 
1849, in my own State. In employing the language I did, 1 of course meant, and was under- 
stood as meaning, that I had never been called on officially to speak or act upon the subject; 
that my political, meaning my Congressional, existence had commenced since. Taken in con- 
nection with my other remarks, I could not have been understood otherwise by any one dis- 
posed to examine with fairness and treat with candor. Candidate as I was in 1849, for an 
office the duties of whibh were purely of a local character, and in the performance of which I 
could not possibly be called on to act officially on the subject of slavery, I was not guilty of 
the folly of undertaking to argue a great constitutional question like that of the Wilmot pro- 
viso. It is true, that slavery, in consequence of our then recent acquisition of territory from 
Mexico, was discussed by both parties, not only in our own but other States. I discussed itj" 
in the tone and spirit already stated. 

As that canvass has been referred to and made the subject of so much epistolary productionj 
it may be refreshing to our Democratic friends briefly to review the past history of Pennsyl- 
vania politics. Let us inquire who are without sin, and therefore permitted to cast the first 
stone. As gentlemen interested in my antecedents have only gone back to 1849, I will refer 
them to an earlier period. I would have been willing, as remarked early in the session, to let 
the dead past bury its own dead; but, as Members have indulged themselves in antiquarian re- 
searches, i will read a few tombstone inscriptions also. Passing along ihe political graveyard 
of buried opinions, I find it recorded that on the :23d d-y of November, A. D. 1819, no less 
ilistinguisbf d a personage than James Buchanan, in Lancaster county Convention, presented 
the following' resolutions: 

"i?esoive(i, That the Representatives in Congress fron thia district be, and they are hereby 
most earnestly requested, to use their utmost endeavor.-, as members of the National Legisla- 



ture, to PRKVEiJT THE EXfSTENCE OF suvERY ill any of the Territories or Stales ivliich may be 
erected hij Congress. 

"Ilrsolved, 'I'hat in the opinion of this meeting, the members of Congress, who at the last 
session sustained the cause of justice, humanity and patriotism, in opjiosing the introduction 
of slavery into tlie State then endeavored to be formed out of the IMissouri Territory, are en- 
titled to the warmest thanks of every friend of humanity." 

I am charged herp, and by some of the Buchanan organs in my State, with being an abolition- 
ist, hecau:*e of my allcired antecedents. Surely, in this respect, in view of tlie resoUuions just 
reiid, I miiy yieM with respectful deference to " Pennsylvania's Favorite Son." 

In 1819 he declared against the Missouri line. In 1847, in hi.s celebrated Berk's county 
letter, he declared in favor of the extension of that line to the Pacific, and his solemn belief that 
the stability of the Union itself depended upon the passage of such a measure. In his last 
bulletin, recently issued, he declares the repeal of that compromise must be sustained, in de- 
fiance of any and of every storm that may be raised zigainst it. 

The political as well as tiie physical world has underi^one many extraordinary changes : Here 
are three revolutions in a sliort iialf century. Has not his ^'backbone been xoonderf idly stiffened? " 
Has not he, too, like the blind man in Scripture, been staggering about these many years, waiting 
for that miraculous Vision when he should no longer see men as trees v.'alking? Hoping that 
tlie scales of error may all fall from his eyes — that he may no longer look throu:;h a glass 
darkly — and recommendmg him kindly to the generous consideration of the Cincinnati Con- 
vention, I pass to anoiher chapter of Pennsylvania Democratic history. 

Iii»1847, I find, by reference to the public journals, that on t!ie 13th of January resolutions 
were introduced in our Siate legislature, instructing the Senators from Pennsylvania to vote in 
favor of the Wilniot proviso, by a sr<mtlemnn who is now a delegate to the Cincinnati Conven- 
tion. Among the nimes of gentlemen who supported the resolution, 1 find that of Senator 
Bigier ; of Thomas H. Forsyth, now President of the Democratic Board of Canal Commis- 
sioners; John C Knox, since then elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court upon the 
Democratic ticket; Timothy Ives, now the Democratic candidate for SurveyorGeneral. In 1849, 
when my finning commenced, and those terrible enormities were committed by me, similar 
resolutions were offered in the State senattf, and supported by J. Porter Brawley, who has 
been since twice elected Surveyo"- General by the Democracy, and by Col. Maxwell McCaslin, 
now holding anuppointment under the present Administration, a.s well as? certain otiier gentle- 
men, who, doubtless, would now prefer their names should not be mentioned in tliis connection. 

In the political canvass of 1849, the Demncratic State Convention nominated John A. Gam- 
ble, esq., a highly estimable gentleman, aa the candidate for Canal Commissioner, who was my 
•competitor for that cfiice. A resolution was, according to the published proceedings of the 
convention, unanimously adopted, which expressly declared, that the Democracy of the State 
esteemed it "a violation of State-rights to carry it (s^Iavery) beyond State limitb;" that it 
denied "the power of any citizen to extend the area of bondage beyond its present (then) 
dominion;" and that it did not " consider it a part of the compromise of tho Constitution, that 
slavery should travel with the advancing column of our territorial progress."* Of the pro- 
ceedings of that convention, the Pennsylvanian of July 10, 1849, then edited by Col. John W. 
Forney, spoke as follows: "We cannot too highly commend the .spirit displayed at this con- 
vention, of the unanimity and harmony with which its decision was communicated;" and in 
an editorial of the 7th of July, it eulogized Mr. Gamble, the nominee of the convention, in the 
foUowing manner : "A Democrat who acted with such members of the convention (that to 
amend the constitution) as Brown and Ingersoli, Woodward and Keim, and secured their con- 
fidence, as we h ipfji'n lo have heard more than one of them declare, cannot be juitlij assailed as 
weak or vresotule in his support of the entire republican creed." In the deliberations of that con- 
vention, many of the prominent and influential members of the party participated. Thomas 
McKean Pcttit, esq , who had held many important ofiicial trusts under Democratic adminis- 
trations, presided. John M R'ad, esq., once nominated for a judgesliip of the United States 
Supreme Court by President Polk, was a member, and, in a speech made in the convention, 
spoke thus of (he anion of the party in 1848 : " As to the Baltimore platform, it is in splinters; 
it broke down and took our candidates with it; it was erected by Southern hands, and not 
broad enough to sustain freemen." Others of like influence were members, among whom was 
James L. Gillis, Col. Samuel W. Black, and J^ohn Cessna, all of whom, I bdieye, are now 
delegates to the Democratic !V?.tional Convention. A State committee was appointed at the 
satvie convention, to conduct the canvass on the principles enunciated by it, of which the gen- 
tleman from tiie Berks district (J. Gl.\ncy Jones) was made chairman, and had associated 
witl) him the gentlemen from the Northampton and Bradford districts, (Messrs. Packcr and 
Grow.) and also Andrew H. Reeder, now of Kansas, Arnold Plumer, now Canal Commis- 
sioner, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and others of like character, 
not one of whom objected, that I know of, on account of the Freesoil platform adopted for the 
canv;iss. 

So far from any portion of the party being opposed to the policy adopted, it was counte- 
narced and sustained even by Col Forney, in his editorial conduct of the Pennsylvanian. The 

* Appendix (8 ) 



DemocTHty of Bradfoi-.l hell a meetint;; tiuring the canvas^i!, lit, which a rfsoUuion wiis pitrieed. 
declaring that "Coniirese fine.sesses legislative power over the suhjcct nt" siMvery in the Terri- 
tories of the United State*:, and ought eo to exercise that power as efleclna'ly to prevent the 
e&tdbiishmen: of slavery ;" adding thereto as a salvo, "we concede to our DefRocnnic l.rethren 
of the South the s-amc freedom of thought and of expression which we rlairn for onrsciveSs" 
&c.* And this, Col Forney, in an editonaj of the P:'7insylva')ii(!ii, of Septenfider lOih, lauded 
in the most afproving lerms as "a noblii example," which he preilic.ied would be "every 
where grccteJ with j'>y." The truth is, Mr. Gamble's election was iirsied and eufiported on 
the ground of bin opposition to the oxien«ion of slavery; and in a leiti r, written by himself, in 
reply to inif rrojjaiones put to him by a committee of Fret soil Dtmorrntsof T ora county, in the 
Wilniot di.stric', lie took ihti position, that Congress has the coiisiitutionul powfr to prohibit 
slavery in i he Territories, and that he wan in favor of its exercise, to prevent ihe- further ex- 
tension of human bondage.! I have his letter, aiwl v/iil publish with tiie rest. The returns of 
the election hhnw that he received the support of those who held cxiremeanti-slaverv views, lu, 
the Wiimot distnci.compo.'ied ofthe counties of Brail lord, Susqnehannali and I'ioo;;), Mr. Gamble 
had a majority of 131.3 votes, being near two hundnd naore th m my wi-rthy and able rolleaijuPj 
(Mr. Grow,) whose opinions were well understood, reccivid at the next<l cti()n,in |!'5(). Such,, 
too, »vas the result in other districts, in which more or less of the same fee'ins; existed. 5 m«y 
sa!ely say, therefore, that it was because I could not and would not tyke extreme grotind, that 
my iJemocraiic competitor obtained the freesoil support. True, I avowed myself to be averse 
to extendinir slavery, hut I made no such committals on grave consiitmional question.?, by^id- 
dressing |iub!ic letters to Freesoil conventions, as my Democr.itic competitor did. * 

The course pursued by the parly in Pennsylvania was also adopted in New Hampshire, 
Maine, and other Democratic States. At a Democratic Slate convention held in New Hamp- 
shire on the J5?h October, 1846, attended and addressed by President Pierce, the following 
resolution was adopted: - , 

^^Reanlved, That v/e approve the vote of our representatives in Con2:ress in favor jif Mr. Wi5- 
mot's amendment to prohibit slavery in any Territory that may be acquired of Mexico." 

Similar resniations were adopted at succeedmg State conventions down to 1850 

The truth is, that everywhere throughout the North the feeling was adverse to slavery, and 
the resolutions of Oemocratic conventions assnmed ihi.s form. 

Why, Gen. C.*ss, ia a speech delivered in the Senate, on the 20ih day of Fq|j>niary, 18501, 
frankly declared, that "when the Wiimot proviso was first propo.scd, * » * had it been pushed 
to a vote, he should have voted tor it;" giving- as a reison, that he ''had never examinefi the 
con.'^titulional |)ower of Congress," and, because, "when the subject was prop sed it did not 
excite that opposition from the South which we have since witnessed, nor lead rtflfcting men 
to doubt whether such a provision could be enforced without danser to the Union "J; If Geri, 
Cass, who all iiis lite has been engaged in the public service, as Territorial govcriior, as Secre- 
tf^ry of War, as Minister to France, as a Senator of the United States, as a randidare for the 
Presidency itself. — if he, with all his vast opportunities, an'l his acknowledged iriti llect, ha<! not 
then made up his mind as to the consiitutionality or unconstitutionality of the WiliTiot proviso, 
how then, it) the name of all that is reasonable, could 1, a young ami dumbie candid. I'e for the 
unpretending office of (^anal Commissioner, be expected to lake a public position, or to have had 
any definite or well-settled convictions on that subject? 

1 have ever felt it to be the duty of all !fO"d citizens to discountenance every effirt calcuiateti 
to weaken existinsj relations, and l > create unkind ieelings betsvcen the ililf-retit parts of ihe con^ 
federacy. In 1850 the Compromise measures were passed. The represfiiiative from my 
disiiict, (Mr. Duller,) than whom no purer or better man ever lived, advocated their pas^sage, 
He was my political friend and i^eiahbor. In the canvass of that year, I becime the Whig 
candidate for Congress against my late competitor. 1 was supported by many lealins; national 
Democrats in my district, for I was known to be a friend of the Compromise mjasurts. I was 
elected. Of that I hold a twu-fold certincate. • , 

At a pubi c meeting, held in Wilkesbarre on the llih day of November, lb<50, convened fo? , 
the purpose — in the lansrua-ieorihecall, "to take into consideration the subject of ihe Fui^itive- 
slave bill, and to assert the supremacy of the lav/" — I, among others, adi'ressed the largn 
meeting there assembied in tavor of the Compromise measure.^, urging all good citizens to abide 
by them as a settlement, and (o sustain the govcrntncni in miintainini; the supn niacy of the 
laws. The retsoiutions passed at that meeting 'received the unaninous vote of those present, 
and ppeak for themselves. jj During my term of Lservicc in Congress, I pursued the same course. 
1 regarded the Compromise as a permanent settlement of the question, nnit so voted on alt 
occasions, when present, as the record will show, and as my colle;'gMe, (Mr. Ai.lirov.) who 
•was then ulso a menibtr, will well recollect, and which, as lie informed me himself, tit the cnntj- 
mencement of the present session, formed one of the reasoiss for not voiinj; for me us Speaker. 
It is true, 1 made no speech on the subject during '.he entire term of my service-, but [ refraineti! 
from 80 doin? for the very reason that II v/as then, a.? I am now, opposed to all n^itatirn antf 
discussion of the subject. ! desired harmony and peace. My object wis r- concilmtion 
Though I voted for the so-called finality re.solutions, whenever a vote was taken that I was in 
my ^eat, I doubted the wisdom and propriety of their introduction. I was aa^ainH' h'I >iitempt9 

'Appendix ('J.) fibid. flO.^ libid, :1].) Jj liiid. (19.) 



at renewing, in Congrosy ov out of ii, \he agitation of the slavf ry quCKtion, no miitu r how, or 
under whatever Bhajie or color the attempt might be rnad^. This was my position then, and 
this IS my position now. 

But I am char;ied with inconsiRtency, for havintieaiil in my first remarks to (he Houuc, iha! 
if the Miysouri compmrniee line could be restored, 1 would be in favor "f iIh rthioraiion, but 
in view of the' difficuliies which .■■urroundcd that question, and must defeat tliciicfinrls, 1 was 
opposed to its a«;itntion ; while I subscqurmly declared, thai Con'j;rcHs lutd no conyiiluiionaJ 
authority eiiht-r to lej;i^li«te Hlavery into or txcUtde it from a Ternt'«rv. These ded .rulionn, 
QSt'jie and learned ncnilemcii say they Hre incapable of roconrilin;;. Let tia see: I waa in favor, 
of resiorrtiion. What kind of resioratiori, .itid what dilii<"uliies? If ilic country could be r«- 
stured — if the peoplr cou'd be carried back — to ihe t:ame condiiion of quiet, of repoue, iind of social 
harmony whiih exi.sied two yenrs a;,'o ; if past legiHlaiion could be wiped out mid for<,'otten ; if 
KansMs could be reinstated, r>nd v;e jill miidu to stand, i>a before, upon the Compromise of 
1850 as a finality — M eectioos of tlie country as.sentins; to and al)i(lin<{ by ii : — it ihiB wen^ 
possible, without invokioj; any action of mine, i would certainly be in fuvur of nuch rc.siorution4 
Dut I said there were difficnilies which surrounded the question. What difliiniliies? l*t. Thai 
in the present aiaie of parties it waa impossible to legisl.iie upon the- qncsiiou ; and secondly, 
then; were consiilutioual difficulties: a grave question rc'tardiis thepo^ver ofConirees to diviil* 
the people of this country by j^en-j'raphic.d Imes — questions alVeclino; State sovereignty, Stale 
equality, and other cmbaira.^'siiii; diffii:ultie>f, which I do »ot profioi-e to ttificus.i at thirf time. i 

There is no inconsiHiency here — nunc whatever. 

" He,mnst have optics keen, I wfeen, 

^ Who sees what is not to be seen." 

Why was 1 opposed to the territorial lesis'ation of the la.st Con«;res.^? iVIy imawer is I'omni 

in the published declarations of Deniocraiic Senators who voted for its putsage. What arc 

they? ,.,.,, , 

Judge Douslas, in a Hpeech at Springfield, in IS-JS, is reported to h"ve ustd the following 

languaije : " All the evidem-es of public opinioii at that day seemed to indicate that the Ci">n»- 

promise hail beco ne canonized in the hearia of the American people a>- a sarred ihin^, which 

no ruthless hand wmld ever be reckless enough to disturb." On. the 23d of Drc^mber, 1851, 

he made it a matter of self-coH!i;ratul ition thsit all his public act^ on the subject of slavery were 

in perfect harmony with the Compromise of 1820. On (he 4th of January, 1854, in hi:^ report 

from the Committee upon Territories, be expressed, hi.s unwi!l.n;incBs to, depart from the Com- 

promi.<e of 1850, by recommendinjr the repeal of th u of 18"W. Seoaior Atchison, as late as 

31 March, 1853, expressfd his conviction tint Iho Missouri t.;ompiomiae could ni»t,be repoaiedf, 

and his willingness to submit to it. ' , 

Gen. Ciiss, on the 90ih of February, 1854,, QXp.ressed his regifct thai tlie repeal qtjicstion bsuji 
been iniroiUiced. " ..." /j-< 

The Waslnngton Union, as late as 20th January, ,1854, deprecated the measure, epolce, of . tVie 
Compromise of 18"J!tl as a " solemn covenant," and. of the attempt to rcjieal it as an irterpoln- 
tion upon that of 1850. They douljird the expediency of the mea.sare. So did I. They be- 
lieved the practical advanlase.s resulting; therefrom would not outweigh the injurv which would 
accrue. So d d I, and I should have acted according to my convictions. It \»a.- a "solemn cot- 
enanl," a compnci oj peace, made l)y pair.iots to stvffply a "casuS: omissus''' of the Consliiutioii, 
and to save the Unnm, The act of 1820 belongcii to other men and oih< r limea, and whatever 
may have been my views rrgarding the propriety or iriijiroprieiy of iia uriijinal enactment, I 
would have lefused lo condemn tlicir acti-m, ;ind siioiild h.tve felt mvpelf under oblijjatioti tp 
regard the (-ompiomi.'-e nf 1850 as ajinalily, atid to (ip[)ose any and all i iToria to renew the agita- 
tion of the slavery quft>'tion. 

It is riirihcr alleged, that in the last ca.ivas-a I defeated my competitor becawie of his support 
of the Kansa.-? and Nebra-ka bill, and that alone. Th-^t I waa elected, the official roiuris de- 
clared : that he was defeated ber.avse of his support of that bi 1, 1 deny. Tliti a maioriiy of -d,(jQ|} 
pei>ple disapproved of his action in reirard t.> that measure, 1 fully believe; but it is well knuwn 
it horn*?, ihiii there were, particularly in the county where we both resitie, hical i8.«ue«ofa 
more nbsorliins: character, which injluenced, and to a far (greater extent conir-'lli-d, thai eli ction. 
The Democratic candidate for grivtrimr carried a majority in our disirict, while my competitor 
was defeiited over 2,000. Four tinvs has my comj^etitor canvassed the disirit^t, and. thrice has 
he been defeated. True, it was once contested, but a Democratic Consie.^s havinj 54 majority 
decid d honorably and justly ail verse to his claim.. Twice have I sinnrd in hi.H defeat, ai:d for 
thfse olTences I neither ask nor expect forgivrne.«s. The pfOfde decided between us, and to 
their dei'islon i shall always bow with respectful deferenr*. For, whom they will, they wdl fi^t 
up. and whom ihcy will, ibey W'll set down. , 

While upon this .subject, 1 will further say, that 1 am afforded the asreeabje sati.sfaction of 
bein<r able to entirely quiet the apurehen^ions of «ho»e members who, during the content here, 
saw, or thoui;hi they saw, the blocdu f;li-)sl of my mardered com et'Uor. I am most happy to aay 
that individunl yet liveih — his blood is ni)l all C'lh', nor his bones all niarrowit-HB, nor have his 
cye-i lo;t their Bpeculaii.m; for iie has very r. ccnily, as I am w> II assurr-d, exhibited cxr-mrdi- 
nary evidence.} of vitality, in the shap^ of epistolary correspondence lier>\ as will as certain re- 
wurkablc Rtar prodiieiions at home. Those remark.^ may not i>« oonsidere^ nniiiely in oiHw 



8 

iierc, bui their pmpiieiy will be well understood at liome, atfU that I make them simply upon 
the principle of just compensation for compliments receivpd. I have funhf-r to express the 
hope, that his measure of usefulness is not yet filled; and while his desires to "do Ihe SlaUsome 
service" may not have all been realized, there is yet "ample room and verge enough" for all his 
future a£;iirations. 

I am chiirgfd, also, with the singular enormity of having voted for the gentleman froni'New 
Jersey, (Ml'- Peknington.) I plead guilty to the char;;e. I did vote for that gentleman. I 
knew him before I came here. I be'ieved him capable of discharging the duties of the Speak- 
ership with credit to himself and honor tn the country. Further than that, I knew his con- 
stituents. [ knov/ the tieoplc of New Jersey; and while it may illy become me to speak of 
them in the presence of her able and more eloquent representaiives, I may yet say, tint having 
paused eight years of my life among them, that no truer pfople, none more loyal to the Consti- 
tution, more devoted to the Union, exist anywhere than are to be found in that <rallant State. 
No people will more firmly support the rights of all the States than they of New Jersey. For 
myself, I have voted for no man whom 1 believed hostile to any section of ihe country, or v/ho 
is in favor of slavery agitation. I am an American, sworn, if you please, to do jusiice to all 
men and defend the rights of every section, to support the Constitution, and to uphold the 
Union; and this I shall do, God willing, to the end of the chapter. 

To one other matter I will allude in this connection, and that is, the final ballot, simply to 
correct a misapprehension in regard to it, so for as I am concerned. I paired off with my col- 
league, (Mr. Barclay,) with the distinct understanding upon my part, that my colleague was in 
favor of the election of the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts, v/ho was afterwards 
elected; and for the accuracy of my memory (in ca>:e of disagreement) I shall refer to the gen- 
tleman from New Jersey, (Mr. Pennington,) who was present when the ariangement was 
made. H 

While members of the House and others have been engaged in represen'in^ne to the peo- 
ple of the South as an Abolitionist, a portion of the public press in the North have, on the 
contrary, assigned me another position, that of a pro-slavery propagandist. Under other cir- 
cumstances, I should be disposed to suffer these antagonistic assumptions to answer each 
-other; but as considerable surprise, real or affected, was expressed here and elsewhere, because 
of my position, and many gentlemen for whose opinion I have great respect have taken differ- 
ent views of public duty, I am induced, now that the smoke of the conflict has passed away, 
calmly and dispassionately to review the past, to re-examine my own position, to ascertain if 
1 am really changed — if 1 have become suddenly translated, and made unconsciously to wheel 
into some new orbit of political relation. 

My declaration, in substance, was, that I would vote for the admission of States without 
reference to the question of slavery. What is the past history of the Government.' Eighteen 
new States have been admitted — nine free, nine slave. It has thus been nine times solemnly 
affirmed, that it is no objection to the admission cf a State that its constitution recognises 
slavery. It has been as often affirmed that it is no objection to the admission of a State that 
its constitution prohibits slavery. . 

The proposition to admit a State with or without slavery has thus been eighteen times, in 
the history of the Government, solemnly affirmed. It stands upon the solid basis of repeated 
sanction. There is no principle more firmly established. President Taylor took the ground, 
with reference to California and New Mexico, that the people of the Territories should decide 
the question of slavery for themselves, when they came to form their State constitutions. In his 
annual messajje to Congress, in December, 1849, he recommended even non-action as to the 
establishment of Territorial Governments for New Mexico and Utah, preferring that the peo- 
ple of those Territories should remain under military government until prepared to settle their 
own domestic policy by forming State Constitutions, and be admitted into the Union as States; 
and these recommendations were strongly reiterated by him in his so-called California mes- 
fiage on the 21sf of January, 1850. 

This policy of Gen Taylor was sustained by leading popular journals at the North. The 
New York Courier and Enquirer, edited then as now by a gentleman of admitted ability and 
of wide reputation, in May, 1850, held the following language: 

" What i.^ the precise .point in controversy ? The North insists upon positive legislation pre- 
cluding slavery. The South insists upon positive legislation j-ecog-nisin^ slavery, either in terms 
or by silence. Here is the "wound," General Taylor recommends that Congress let the 
matter entirely alone, and leave the people ihemselves to legislate upon the matter to suit themselves. 
Genera! Taylor does "deign to disclose" the operation by which the evil will be cured. He 
proposes a resort to the fundamental principle of republicanism — the right of the people to gov- 
ern themselves. In this he takes ground coincident exactly with that of the South m 1847, 
when Mr. Calhoun asserted the right of the inhabitants of the Territories to just such self-gov- 
ernment as the President proposes to give them. Is this doing nothin<r.'' Is there in this rio 
remedy for the evil .' Is there any man, any party, or any section, which can justly complain 
of this policy? Does it violate the rights, or disregard the interests of any section ? .4/irf is not 
the principle xtpon which it is based; which gives to it vitality and strength, the principle that Ibe people 
of every community have a right to make their oicn local laics, one ichick ought to command the assent 
■of every section, and of every citizen of this republic ? 

The North x\mericait, of Philadelphia, also then and now one of the leading public journals 



in my State, edited by a gentleman of distinguished ability, in many able and eloquent articles 
advocated tlie policij of General Taylor ; and upon the decease of that "good and honest man," 
held the followiii<j laiiiiua^e : 

" In the midst of the gloom, however, which tlie death of General Taylor has caused, it is 
consolinsr to know thnt the position he laiely occupied in (luhhc ofl'iirs has been assumed by a 
man (iVIillurd Fillmore) of the hfjhest pergonal integrity, of unquestionable patriotism, and of 
such views of public policy as \v ill insure, so far as liis action can accumplish those sjre.-it ends, 
prosperity and peace to the country. *»■■** ReprfRrntmfi; a party, he will, nevertheless, 
prove true to the interests of the entire nation ; and by mainlainin^^ the policy — the broad, compre- 
Iiem'tre, wise andjiut policy — marked n%it by President Taylor, he wiltsecvre to himself the estenn and 
qfUction of the people. In our grief for the untimely and irreparable loss of the great and good 
man who has been called away from us, it is a grateful reflection that his official robes have 
fallen upon one who deserves to succeed him." Similar extracts, from these and other leading 
papers at the North, mi^jhi be multiplied ad infinitum. 

Now, I have felt it my duty with reference to slavery in the States and Territories, to declare 
in favor of the doctrine of " non-intervention" — 

" The liead and front of my offending 
' Hath this extent — no more." 

Yet I am denounced with havina: abandoned the cherished principles of my State and party; 
and sober, sensible gentltmen will now declare that their right eyes shall be plucked out, and 
their right arms sulfered to wither, before they will endorse any such abominable doctrine. 
Tlie political sky is changed. 

Let us inquire what was said by distinguished gentlemen from Pennsylvania belonging to 
the Whig party, in. 1850, upon this subject. 

On the 15th of June, 1850, iVIr. Inge, of Alabama, offered a proposition in these words: 
'• That the people of any ))ortion of said territory, when assembled in convention, in pursu- 
raice of Constitutional authority to frame a State constitution, have a right to adopt or exclude 
■African slavery, and their determination of this question, by the adoption or exclusion of Afri- 
can slavery, shall lie no obstacle to the admission of such State into the Union." This propo- 
sition led to discussion, in which Messrs. Chester Butler and .loseph Casey, from my State, 
participated." 

Mr. Butler, in a speech made by him, June 8, 1850, expressed himself as follows : 

» 1. « "He admitted fully the right of the people to form their constitution to suit them- 
selves, and when foimed, they wi-re entitled to come here and claim admission as a State into 
^he Union; and that there is a pro-slavery clause in their State constitution, forms no insupera- 
ble objection with him to such admission, any more than that an anti-slavery clause in her 
fundamental law shull form such objection. He believed such to be the senlimenis of his constitu- 
itufs ; and so far as hi- expression of the vines he entertained may have an iii/Jitence, he icas willing to 
let it go, with the hope and expeclution that it 7nay be sustained by those who hereafter represent those 
constituents on this floor. " 

"Such States have a right to come in on an equality with the old States, and to enjoy all the 
■ benefits and be subject to all the compromises of the Constitution. * .* »^ * 

* * * "He thought if all parties would lay aside their passions and prejudices, and ^ive 
fair and full expression to their real sentiments, the proposition to permit a State to come into 
the Union with a repulilican constitution, the work of her own hands, recognising or excluding 
ing slavery, as she thought best, would receive an almost unanimous vote here. The discus- 
■sioji this morning has furnished cheering evidence tliat such would be the result." 

But whether this would be so or not, Mr. B. thought tiiere was no use in quarreling about it, 
and that nothing waR to be gained by refusing to admit a State on this ground. Suppose a 
State should otfiT herself with a constitution containin;^ a clause permitting slavery, and Con- 
gress should strike out ihe clause and then admit lier, could she not, as soon as she could call a 
convention of her citizens, alter her constitution, reinstate the pro-slavery clause, and ad- 
mit sia\eiy .' If she dops so, would she not still be a St.'te of the Union, on an equality with 
the other States .=' There is no doubt of this, nor that if a State (California for instance) should 
be admitted with an anti-slavery clause, she cruld immediately afterwards change her constitu- 
tion in this respect, and become a slave State. Mr. B. did not see when there would be any 
remedy even if Ohio or any other State which •came into the Union under the operation of the 
ordinance of 1787, should change her constiiution and become a slave State. If she did, how- 
ever it might be a breach of that compact, her Senators and Representatives would not be 
turned away from the doors of the Capitol as intruders, having no right there. No, sir, she 
would still be a State of the Union, with the rights of a sovereign State. He would add, it is 
true, the admission of a slave St.ite carries with it that feature of the (Constitution respecting re- 
presentation which is so objectionable to some. Slaves cannot vote, though three-fifths of them 
are represented ; — this is fixed by the Constitution under which we all live; and however much 
any gentleman in^iy wish i< otherwise, it is not such an objection as would influence him to vote 
against the admisMon of a State. 

Mr. Casev, another able and eloquent Representative, expressed the sarne views, as follows: 



no 

And I auk ie&rk to inqaire of the aitntlemnn, whethsr hiss proposition is intMrsfJed ia apply »c 
alJ the Terriloriep acquired l>y the tnsHiy of Guadalai)o Hidalgo, or whether it is inlmdcdtc 
apply tyn'.rely to the Territories embraced in the artjendmcrit offered by the gentleman from 
Mitscuri? 

Mr. Ince. The proposiflnn js confined expressly to she Territories I'mbraced in the ani*!i)dl- 
ment of the {jent'rman from MissiMiri h baa n:> reference to any other. 

Mr. Cabiy. I em it) fuvor of the principle ; but if that ia the intention and view with \i7hir>„ 
the amendment is ofl'ered, I am opposed to it. 

i\lr. Ikge. 1 will eay (listt the princji'e is true in its application to all the Territories. 

iVlr. CASiiT. If it is made lo apply to all, I will vn'e f<jr the proposition ; find I lake occasion 
to say, in my place, that if Culifornia had come liere with u recognition of slavery in her consti- 
tution, I should have vnied for her admin.sion, if there were no oiher oljectifin. ! aaid so the 
other day in answer to the genileman from Kentucky; I eaid ihat if JN'fw Mexico cnmre her*- 
reco,?nisin;j; slavery in her consiiiution, I will vme for her admission, lam not deterred frons 
the a.sserlion of a princif)le by an appi^ii to my consiituents, anywhere. 1 have avowed myeeif 
here, and at home, and every wl. ere, aa;;»in.sl liliraiRm i" ■ » « * # 3» *- 

1 am in favor of the Presiileni's plan, which the ijentleivian iVoai Tennessee has alluded to. I 
tell him, rir, that ! am not afraid to assert the principle embraced in that plan. 

Such were the views of Mcs.'^ro. Builer and Casey, and such the pofition taken even by 
Senator Sewnrd, in his celebrated tJalifnrnia sfieech, on the llih of MiU'ch, 1850. In thai 
speech, that distinguislied gentleman lUclared, in reply to a question put to him by Senatoir 
Foote, of .Vlississippi, a3 follows: "J reply, as I said before, thatften if California had come at 
a slave Slate,'''' * r » *'■ I bhould have voted foi- her ailmissiou.'" It is Inie, he afterwards said 
he should vote to admit no more slave tstnics, unless " under c'trcumstances absolutely Hfcfsser^.'* 
This is a qualification, sa far as bin own action is concerned ; but he concedes the principle aiv- 
nounced in Mr. Imre's resolve; and conceiiins; that, no qu.aliiicaiion as to what he might deem 
"circumstances absolutely necessary" can f.hiinge his position, so far as the principle is con- 
cerned. I made no qtialifii-atioii or reservation, for the .sinijile reason that, if the principle "oe 
correct, it will admit of none. 

In declarins; my sentimeiUs upon the floor of the House, I could not justly be charged with 
havini; in view any increasfd suffrfge or any expectation of an election. 1 knew then, fulJ 
well, the opinions I announod woidd not accord with ihe ()re\'ailiii!2 sentitiitnt here. 1 itnew 
tJhat my declaration would l)e seizf d upon by cnen ies at home, whose inrerent it was to 
"■ Difiloi't (hf: truih, aicumulate the lie, 
.4nd pile ih' pyiamid of calumny," 

the more industriously to carry on tJieir work of abuse, niisrepre.'ientatioii, and detractioi:. As 
no measure of prospective censure deterred me then, so no dt-gree of multiplied reproaci* ha? 
disturbed me since. I could not — I! would not — !urr."nder my personal independence, or purchase 
popularity at the price of my c invictions. I was pr< pared to adopi this declaration of the great 
Senator of Massachusetis, tlie expounder of the Consiiiution : 

"! shall kriOA' lia our country. The ends I aim at, by the blessing of God, shall be my 
couifltry's, my God's, and irtuh's. I was born an American, I live an American, and 1 shall- 
die an Amenran. But I mean, to the cxieni of my abfliiie^, to perform the duties incurribeni 
upon me in that character, wlieih«r public or privnte, lo the end of inj' career ; and I mran to do 
this with an absolute disregiird of persona! const quencfs What yre personal consequences? 
"What is the amount of all ihej^ond or evil (hat could betide an individual, in comparition with 
the good or evil which, in a crisis like this, may happen lo a sreat nation .' Sir, let the conse- 
queiicea be what they m ly to me. I am carehss. No man can hardly sulFer too much, and no 
man can fall too soon, if he suffers or if be falls in defence of the liberties and the Constiiutioa 
oi bit) coumry." 

In conclusion. ! am in favor of liberty — constitutional freedom — freedom North and freedom 
South. 1 will draw .-lo lini-s of sorid or physical o;rogra|ihv across ihis continent of ours. No 
riveror mou..tain by any act of «iiiiie shall ever dvide iheaiTtctions of the Amrrican people. Th^* 
Terriioriis of the Unioo acquirt-d by common blood and common lrea^^ure 1 would have fvce to 
tlie natural and uorosirained occupation of Norihern and of Southern men. As in time of war 
they marched to battle side by side and shoulder to .shoulder, s > now in time of peace let ihem 
move arm in aim to ide pnHse..5>io:i of a connnoii heritaijc — let the hardy pioneers <if all sectiona 
pres.i forward with iheir families, with shcir implemetiis of industry, with their EJibleo and their 
Echoo! books, v;ilh what! ver else under ihe lavys and the ' onstnuiioo they may pn.'«-scss, to re- 
cairn the wilderness, to make for themselves home.-?, to es>talili.-<h well-regulated liberty, to build 
op a com non country, and perpetuate a great AniRricao nationality. Above all, let them Iwld 
/asl by the Union. In it alone there is sirengih, iliere is pi)*/er, there is glory. With it w* 
have nothing to fear; without it, notiiins ;o ho)>e. 

Lei us, then, each and all resolve, with ''steadfast and inflexible ptirpog-e, to preserve again*':. 
all tntmies aiid with uur hearts' iiesi blood, this glorious Union indissjlulile and forever ,^' 



APPENDIX, 



(i.) 

LttUr addreestd to Horn/ ConncUy, E^q., of Philadelpkic, before Ike inetting tf Congress, and ti*M ■ 

yublished in, Ike nexospapers. 

WiLKivi^BARRE, Wednesday, J^ovembtY 2\, ^S5b^ 

MtdearSih: Absence from lioiiic has delayed reply to your esteemed favor of the 12l>/ 
instani. 

In regard to my opinion in the niaiter to whicii your leUer refers, I will simply remark, tlwt I 
supported the Comproniit^e measures of 1850, and have not changed my \iew8 upon the sub- 
jects iliey (Mnliriiced. 

The quesiKin ol slavery 1 have ever been disposed to leave with the people of the Siatee 
wliere it exist». Kno\vin» that iia discussion licreioforc ban been productive of evil and mia- 
chief, I am opposed to its further ai;itation. Had I be^jn a member of the last C<ngre8«, 11 
would huve voted .igainst (he repeal of the Minsouri Compromise. My opinions having beet- 
overruled in this mailer, I shall abide by the law as it is. 

I am miikina; n hurried prcparaiion to leave for Washington. I hope to att you about Tu«»- 
day of nest week. 

Hastily, yours, truly, HENRY M. FULF^ER. 

(2.) 

jFVom the Mvntoxir Jlmerican of January 15, 1856. 

"Thirt, we (ireHume, is the wround occupied by Hon. Henry M. Fuller. He regards aboh- 
tioniam or slavery oropasjuidism as no part of our creed a>^ rnpmbers nf the Americ;^n party; 
but owing- to the contradictory Hiatements in reference to the position of that gentleman, wc re- 
frained from appliiiiilin*: or censuring his course; and while Mr. Fuller may exfire.''8 opinions 
contrary to our own, ye' we have unsh-ik'n confidence in his integrity and in his devotion tc 
the great princifilen ih.it beat the founilalion of the Ajpcrirnn [arlv; nor can we believe that 
he would abfln(li>n tie 2i"<'nd on which he was eleried, for a \ p'atc in the gift of ConL-ri'ss — 
knowing, too, that the doelrints o) rmn-inttrvintinn on (he suljcct ofsUvery were cvc'-orsed by liivi prt- 
vious to his election.''^ 



(3.) 

, Archibald, St^i. 13, 1849. 

My dear Sir : Your letter of the 12lh inst. is before me. I am ex.^et'dingly mortified aboul 
this matter, mid nni;ry also, and more angry than monined. Mr. Fuller wrote me a private- 
letter about the middle of last m«nth, v/hich has been s-tolen from my pos.session. 1 cannot 
tell how, nor by wliom, though i luive my suspicions. The pul) ished letter has been .moel 
i/ainnno/j altered, and niade considerably Btronger than wht-n 1 sa^v it. I will try to set it right. 
I wish you would write to Mr. Fuller and explain it, as without explanation he will think very 
meanly of me. 

My acquaintance with Mi-. F. is limited, having only met him on two or three occasions ai 
the Wayne county couria. From what I have seen and heard of him, I have taken a liking to 
him, and mean to help him. We'll try to pay off these scurvy rascals for puttin;: this trick 
upon me. Fuller ought to be elected, and 1 think he will be. If he was only a Democrat, hf- 
would knock tlie siiota nff from these fellows. We can't make much iinpre.-^siim on ouv side, 
as I unilerstanil Giiniblc goes all in on our freosoil views Siill, wc will do all we can, ami I .shalS 
work nil ihe harder n'"W. If you should be coming up this way !>■ fore the election, 1 .should 
like to have y u call ; I v/ant lo explain this matter more fully. When will Fuller be buck? It 
wou! <lo good if lie would come up here. 

YourP, v-fec, F. SAXTON. 

To G. M. Hahdiko, IfVkesbarrf, I'a. 



(4.) 

' WiLKESBARRE, I2lk Sept , lb4S. 

F. Saxto*;, Esq., .'JrcAiba/cf, Pa. 

M? DEAR Sin: I observe m the «' Pennsylvanian" of yeBiordny, a ropy of which I aeni! yoi- 
herewith, a piil'hcaiinn pui-p.-riing to he a privat«> letter, written by H ci- ry iVL Fuller to yon 
under date of IHib August, ult. 



12 

But a few days prior to the departure of Mr, Fuller, on his canvass of the State, he exhibited 
to me a letter addressed to you, on the Euhjert of the probable a.clion to be taken by your con- 
vention, soon to meet at Hyde Park; but, really, sir, I am unable to recognise, in the letter now 
publislied, hardly a fe-iture of the original. 

Standins; in the relation of a personal lind political friend of Mr. Fuller, I deem it my duty, 
in his absence, to call your attention to the publication, and request that you will, at tlie earliest 
convenient date, furnish rne with such an explanation as the facts of the ca»e must certainly 
warrant. 

1 cannot believe that you would become a paity to so sross a fraud upon the public, or be 
instrumental in such a groundless misrepresentation of Mr. Fuller's views; and I confidently 
hope that yo*,! will be able to give me a full and satisfactory explanation. 
With sentiments of high reg.ird, 

I am, very truly, "&c., 

GARRICK M. HARDING. 



(5.) 

Archibald, March Q6, 1836. 
Hon. Hevrv M. Fuller. 

Dear Sir: My attention has recently been called to a letter published in the Luzerne Union, 
purporting to have been written by you on August, 18 J9, to Mr. B. F. Saxton, of this place. 
It appears to me there must be some mistake about this matter. Just previous to your nomi- 
Jiation for Canal Commissioner, I well remember, Frederic Saxton, a lawyer of this place, (and 
no other Saxton has ever resided here,) exhibited to me a letter from you to l;im, but, to the 
best of my recollection, a very different one from that now published. A short time after, he 
informed me that the letter had been stolen, altered, and pulilished in Philadelphia. That 
publication, however, I never saw; but the more recent one, in the Luzerne Union, I have read, 
as well as the comments of the press thereon. 1 deem it but justice to you to state my recol- 
lections of this matter There was not, to the Lest of my recollection, any mention of the 
Wiimot proviso in your letter. You did express yourself adverse to slavery extension, but did 
not avow any sympathy with the Free-soil party; and being my.self, at that time, a member of 
that party, and knowing well your political sentiments, I may say, truthfully, t do not believe 
you felt any sympathy for us. If I remember ari^'ht, the main objf^ct of your letter was, to 
influence Mr. Saxton to exert himself to prevent any nomination or any distinct party action 
by the Free-soilers whatever. I have known your political sentmnenls ever since you entered 
upon political iife; they have always been moderate and conservative — never ultra or extreme. 
\ou have always been known distinctively as a Whig — a conservative Whig — but never as an 
Abolitionist, or as having entertained any abolitton tendencies or sentiments. I make these 
remarks to you lor the reason that my name was alluded to in the letter to Saxton ; and from 
the fact of my having seen the letter, my silence might be construed as evidence that the letter, 
as published in the Union, was a true copy of the original. 1 have no doubt but that the letter, 
as p\ib!i?hed in that paper, has been materially altered. 

I am, truly, your.?, 

JOHN P. FARNHAM. 



(6.) 

WiLKESEARRE, I8//« ^UgUSt, 1849. 

My DEAR Sir: Your favor of 15th instant was duly relieved, and the matter of Mr. Hack- 
ley shall have immediate attention. I will write you fully in a few days. Let us have a little 
private talk on the subject of our State election. You state that a Freesoil convention will 
meet at Hyde Park on the 30th instant, and that you will attend as a delegate. The Whig 
convention met at Harrisburg day before yesterday. We have received no intelligence yet, 
but will this evening or in the morning. My friends here are confident of my nomination. I 
have really very little feeling on the subject. The office is not to my liking — still, if nominated, 
I sliall desire an election. If your friends should persist in maintaining a distinct organization, 
and make a separate nomination as has been suggested, it will do injury. You say you ar 
friendly and de&ire to aid my election. I believe you are so, and would suggest therefore that 
you prevail upon your friends to make no nomination. How this is to be accomplished you 
will be.-st understand — perhaps by resolution; consult with our mutual friends, Farnham and 
riackiey — they are both substantial, sensible men, and competent to advise in tiie matter. On 
the subject of Freesoil, I believe our people here and everywhere are in favor of free labor and 
free men. I certainly am opposed to extending slavery, and desire whatever can rightly be 
done to restrain or ameliorate it should be done. 

It is an exciting question, c dculated to produce much inflammation and extreme opinions. I 
would avoid undue excitement, but at the same time insist upon the rights and interests of my 
sicticm, doing no injustice to any other. Birt enough of this — ours is a State canvass, and this 
question can hardly be considered an issue. If I ."hould be nominated by the Harrisburg con- 
vention, my chief desire in securing the election will be, to obtain a popular endorsement of the 



13 

measure I advocated in tho !e£;is!ature last winter, and about which we had so rr.acii trouble — 
the completion of the North Branch Canal ; its completion, in my jude;meni, will not only be 
of lari^e benefit to us here, but very materially increase the State revenue. It is destined to do 
a large business. Its m rits are not understood. I shall stump the State, probably, and talk lo 
the people on that subject. 
Let me hear from you soon. 

Yours, respectfully, . H. iVI. FULLER. 



Extracts from Uit Debates of Mr. Randolph''s proposition in Ike Virginia House of Delegates for Iht 
gradual abolition ofslavtry, in January, 1832. 

Mr. BoLLiNG, of Buckingham, said : " This is a grave and imnortnnt subject — one that ought 
to be and will be considered. lis importance demands that it should be tunsidered and debated 
here; and is not, as some gentlemen think, ii renson that it should be |.assed in silence, and 
acted upon in secret. No, sir, our action .should becalm and dispnsaionate, but open, bold, and 
manly. Sir, that it is an evil, a great and appalling evil, he dared believe no sane man would 
or could deny. 

"Nor, sir, can it be denied that it deprives us of many of those advantages, facilities, and bless- 
ings which we should enjoy had we a more dense white population. That it is a blighting, 
withering curse upon this land, is clearly demonstrated by this very discussion itself. 

" Notwithstanding Eastern gentlemen had waxed so warm, there are many, very many in 
Eastern Virginia wlio had rather resign their .'fUves gratuitousli; than suUniit to the ills of 
slavery ; many who had rather turn tliein lorse and leave them behind, while they should seek 
a happier clime — a land alike a stranger to slaves and slavery." 

Mr. Marshall, of Fauquier, said : "The utmost latitude of debate had already been tole- 
rated, and no injury could now accrue from a temperate expression of his sentiments on the 
general question. He felt himself at liberty to say that he was opfiosed to slavery as a practical 
evil. He objected to slavery, not because it implies moral turpitude, or liecause it.is a sin to be 
the owner of a slave. If it be a sin, let it fall on those who introduced the evil and have trans- 
mitted it to their offspring. * * Wherefore, then, object to slavery? Bf-cause it is ruinous 
to the whites; retards improvement; roots out an industrious popularinn; banishes the yeomanry 
of the country; deprives the spinner, the weaver, the smith, the shoi maker, the carpenter, of 
employment and support. Our towns are stationary, our villages almost everywhere declining, 
and the general aspect of the country marks the curse of a wasteful, idle, reckless population, 
who have no interest in the soil, and care not how much it is impoverished." 

Mr. Chandler, of Norfolk : " I took occasion to observe that I believed the people of 
Norfolk county would rejoice could they, even in the vista of time, sec some scheme for the 
gradual removal of this curse from our land. I was desirous to see a report from the committee 
declaring the slave population an evil, and recommending to the people of this Commonwealth 
the adoption of some plan for its riddance." 

Mr. Berry, of Jefferson : " Sir, I believe that no cancer on the physical body was ever more 
certain, steady, and fatal in its progress than is this cancer on the political body of the State o? 
Virginia. I admit that we are not to be blamed for the origin of this evil among us; we are 
not to be blamed for its existence now, but we shall deserve the severest censure if we do not 
take measures, as soon as possible, to remove it." 

Mr. Faulkner, of Berkeley : " Sir, there is one point in which I do most sincerely a^rec with 
those who are arrayed against me in this discussion. It is that the proposed inquiry is one of 
great delicacy and transcendant importance. The revolution which agitated this Commoa- 
wealth fifty years ago, great and important as it was, involved in its results but a change of our 
political relations with the moth>-r country This measure, should it prove successful — and 
that it must, sooner or later, no individual in this House can now rea.^onably doubt — must in- 
volve in its consequences a moral, physical, and political revolution in this St^tte ; a revolution 
which will be beneficially felt by every great interest in the Commonwealth, and by every slave- 
holding State upon thi:i continent. I shall ever reckon it amongst the proudest ncidents of my 
life that I have contributed my feeble aid to forvxard a revolution sot;r'nd and patriotic in its 
results. The idea of a gradu^l emancipation and removal of the t-iaves from this Comrnon- 
wealth is coevai with the declaration of your independence of the British yoke. It sprung into 
existence during the first session of the general assembly sut)Spquent to the formation of your 
republican government. It was proper ; there was a fitness of things in the fact that so beneficerit 
an object as the plan for the gradual extinction of slavery in this State should have been the 
twin offsjiring of that mind which gave birth to the Bill of Rights and to the act for religious free- 
dom. A fact so honorable to the public sprint and humanity of that age, so worthy of the ge- 
nius and expanded philanthropy of those with whom it originated, cannot be too often recurred 
to, nor too proudly cherished. Slavery, it is admitted, is an evil. I is an institutioir 
which presses heavily against the best interests of the State. Being thus injurious^ have we not 
a right to demand its ex crmi nation.'" 

Mr. McDovfell, of Rockbridge: "We know that the blessings of our po.sition and soil and 
climate are countervailed by tlie apathy of our public couiiset-g, and by O'lr excli* iva reliance 



i4 

!p»;>ji voluriidry labor. Our inif vesta and senses proclaim the progress of genera) dedinc; covi' 
science and ('X)>eiieiice attest that slavery is its principal cause. Do we not contemplate Vir- 
ginia justly when we regard her as meagre, hagijard, and enfeebled, with derrepittidc stealing 
jpon her litnhs, as given over to leanness and innpotency, and aa wasting away under the im- 
providence and the inactivity which elernaily accompany the f^ital insiitution which rhe cher- 
ishes, i nd cherishes, loo, as a mother who will hazard iier own life rather than part even with 
f.he nionstri'us offi«prin;; that afflicts her? If I am to judge from the lone ofour debate, and from 
Uie conceHsiiini^ on all haiids^ expressed, there is not a man in thia bo'ly, not one, perhaps, that 
£3 even represented here, who would not ha\e thanked tlie generations that have gone before us, 
!f', acting as public men, ihey had broui:ht this bondage to a clor^e; who would not have 
:hanked ihcm, if, aciin? as private men, on private motivea, they had relinquished tlie property 
which their mistaken kindness has devolved upon us. In this investigation there is no difficulty; 
nothing has been heft to speculation or inquiry; for, however widely gentlemen have differed 
'ipon tlic po\*er and the justice of touching this properly, ihcy havi- yet united in a common 
■'.fatimimy to its cliaraeier. // has been frtrnkty and vneqiiivocally di dared . from Ike very commevce- 
ment if litis debate, by Ihe most d'Ciiled evnmix of abclilion llumuhes, as well as by otlieis, that this 
property u 'an evil,'' that it is a dangerous property-''^ 



(S.) 

Rantuiion of the Democratic State Ccnvenlioit of Pennsylvania, at Piltiburg, in 1849. 

Resnlved, That the Democratic pa>ty adhere now, as it ever has done, to fl e Consti'uiion of 
^,e country. Its I- ttrr and spirit they will neither weaken nor deptrny, and they re-declare that 
<?lavery i« a local, domestic ins'iiution of the South, sulject to State nlnne, and wiiii which the 
General Goveriimeni has nothing to do. Wherever the Stale law extends its jurisdiction, the 
tocnl institution can continue to exist. Esteeming it a violation cf State rights to carry it bei.ond 
State limits, we deny the power of any citizen lo extend the area of bondage beyond its present 
dominion ; nor do we consider it a part of ihe compromise of the Constitution, that slavery 
• «iiould forever travel with the advancing column ofour tenitoiial prOf.resp. 

(9.) 

From the Pennsy Iranian, September 10, 1849. 

!t is a bug period of time since we have been more gratified than by the indication of a apirit 
i)f conciliation cont»ined in the following resolution : 

Resolved, That ConiiresG possesses legislative power over the sul'ject of slavery in the Terrt- 

-lories of the United States, and ought so to exercise that power as effectually to prevent the 

establishment or sufferance of slavery. Whilst we thus reaffirm these principles, we concede 

to our Demoeratic brethren of the South the same freedom of thought and of expression which 

we claim for ourai Ives," &c. 

Every Democrat in the Union will hail this resolution as oil poured upon the troubled waters. 
It asserts the broad principle, that there is no intention on the part of those who entertain par- 
ticular views on the slavery question to make their views a "political test" — an avowal that 
will be universally applauded, and everywhere greeted with joy Tie Democracy of Bradford 
have set a nnbir exaniph — an example that cannot fail to be generally followed, and thus lead 
■'0 the happifst nsults. It is the belief eniertaimd in many quarters. North and South, that ihe 
object was entertained of interpolating the rational Democratic creed with the test here dis- 
avowed, that has led to all diffirt.ltiee upon the question of slavery. This impression is com- 
t>letely dissiputofl by the irsolution adopted I y the Bradford Democracy — thus leaving to every 
meml>er of the D( mnrratic party the right of e nter'ainirg and urging w hatever sentiments upon 
fie subject may seem to him best, without hazarding his political position, or losing the confi- 
■ieinc«: of hie party. 



(10.) 

letter fromMr. Gamble, Democraik candidate for Canal Commissioner of Penmylvafiia in 1849. 

Jersey Shore, Sept. 13, '49. 
l'. E. Smith, U, C. WrBB, and Levi Bicelow, E."»quire8. 

QiiWTLKMEN: I have the honor to arknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, 
i'H-opoundint; lo me the following quratioiis, in pursuance of your (qvpointment as a committe* 
•for that )jur^>o9€ by a Hieeting of " Freesoil Democrats," held at Tiof^a, on the 3d of September 
•natant 

Il'-wcver reliictarit I feel to give publicity to my "views" upon a subject so foreign and 
i^ijjtirct fninn the <Uitifs and fiinctior.s of tfee cffice (br whici« I hnvc the homur to be the cundidutc 



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